Exclusive poll: Chris Christie not being 'completely honest' about Bridgegate

49% don't see him as presidential material

Jan. 13, 2014

Gov. Chris Christie / Mark Sullivan/Staff Photographer

SOME GOOD, SOME BAD The governor’s approval has slipped, but a solid majority says he’s done what he can to deal with the issue.

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About half of New Jersey adults think Gov. Chris Christie knew his staff was involved in the “Bridgegate” scandal before emails became public last week, according to a new Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll.

And 51 percent say they do not think the governor has been “completely honest” about what he knows about the incident, the poll found.

But 52 percent do not believe Christie was personally involved in the decision to slash Fort Lee’s access to George Washington Bridge toll lanes last September, according to the poll.

The scandal has caused Christie’s job approval rating to slide. His post-election high of 65 percent in December dropped to 59 percent over the weekend, according to the poll. That number, though, is still higher than before superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey in October 2012, when he was at 53 percent.

“Although they don’t believe he’s come clean about what he knew and when (he) knew it, they are still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt at this point,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch.

But the Republican governor’s popularity doesn’t translate well to higher office. Forty-nine percent said they do not think Christie has the right temperament to be president, up from 34 percent in September.

Meanwhile, the governor’s disapproval rating increased to 32 percent, up from 25 percent last month and 17 percent in February, according to the poll.

The poll also showed that “the Republicans are sticking by their man,” with 89 percent of them approving of his job performance, up from 85 percent last month, according to Murray.

• 44 percent have a favorable impression of him, down from 70 percent in February.

• 47 percent think Christie is more concerned about his political future than governing the state, up from 38 percent in September.

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• 63 percent are not bothered by Christie’s direct — some would say blunt — speaking style. That is unchanged from September 2012.

• 65 percent would not consider Christie a bully; 32 percent said that he is a bully.

• 64 percent said the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge were done for political retaliation.

• 62 percent said Christie has taken the appropriate steps to deal with the issue.

• 67 percent say the bridge debacle has not affected their trust in the governor.

“The real question is how much more hasn’t he told us and the poll indicates that we expect that there are probably a couple of other things he hasn’t told us because that’s normal when these things happen, and so he has the ability to weather a couple of more revelations out of this,” Murray said.

The federal investigation into the Stronger than the Storm TV ads that featured Christie and his family “could actually help Chris Christie,” he said. “Everyone’s seen the ad, (the) story’s been out there for quite some time about the amount of money spent on the ad and it may end up looking like the Democrats are … looking for any thread, no matter how tentative, to try to take this guy down, which makes serious accusations look politically motivated.”

“So there’s a danger there for Democrats in going after him on everything,” Patrick said.

The Monmouth University Polling Institute conducted the telephone poll of 541 New Jersey adults from Jan. 10 through 12. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

The poll is published by the Asbury Park Press and its sister publications: Courier-Post, Courier News, Daily Journal, Daily Record and Home News Tribune.